Religious Leader: Dalai Lama
Founder: Siddhartha Gautama0
Place of Worship: Vihara
Region
- was originated from India
- spread through all the countries
Description of Gods
- they don't believe in one god, believe in many gods
-if you want one thing you pray to a god and if u want another thing u will pray to another god like if you want rain you will pray to a god and if you want to stop the rain you will pray for another god
Examples:
- Green Tara- Mother of all Buddhas
- Medicine Buddha- healing
- Maitreya- future Buddha
- Manjushri- wisdom
Description of Main Beliefs
- After death one returns to earthly life in a higher or lower form of life according to his good or bad deeds
- faith centers on correct understanding of human nature and ultimate reality
- Buddha is their only master
- Take refuge in the Buddha, the Ohamma and the Sangha
- the world is not created and ruled by a god
Description of Practices
- 3 trainings or practices
- Sila:Virtue, good conduct, morality. Its based on 2 fundamental principles.
- The principle of quality: that all living entities are equal
- The principle of reciprocity:this is the golden rule in Christians, to do unto others as you would have them do onto you.
- Samadhi: concentration, meditation. mental development, developing one's mind is the path 2 wisdom which in turn leads 2 person freedom. Mental development also strengths and controls our mind; this helped them maintain good conduct
- Prajna: discernment; sight, wisdom, enlightment. Its the real heart of buddhism, wisdom will emerge if your mind is pure and calm.
Description of Sacred Writings
- divided into the catorgories of canonical and non-canonial
- written by a Tibetan monk, describes indetail the stages of death from the Tibetan of point of view
- the Sutras or Suttras are believed to be either literally or metaphorically, the actual words of Buddha
-the tripotaka is the earliest collection of Buddhist teachnings and the only text recognized as canonical by Theravada Buddhists
- Mahayana is a sacred writing
- Tibetan the book of the dead is the most well known text to the west
Descriptions of festivals
- Vesak or Visakah Poja (Buddha Day) - Buddha's birthday celebrates the birth, enlightment and death of the Buddha on the one day, the first full moon in May
- Elephant Festival - the Buddha used the example of a wild elephant which when is caught, is harnessed one to train. In the same way, he said a person new to Buddhist should have a special friendship of an older Buddhist. This festival is held on the third Saturday in November.
- Festival of the Tooth - In kandy, a great temple was built to house a relic of Buddha - his tooth, the tooth can never be seen but once in a year in August on the night of the full moon there is a special prosession for it.
Symbols
- Eight spoked wheel - represents Buddha turning of the wheel of truth or law
- Bodhi tree - represents the tree under which the Buddha achieved inlightment
- Toothprints - represents the physical presence of the Enlightened one
Religious Leader: Dalai Lama
Founder: Siddhartha Gautama0
Place of Worship: Vihara
Region
- was originated from India
- spread through all the countries
Description of Gods
- they don't believe in one god, believe in many gods
-if you want one thing you pray to a god and if u want another thing u will pray to another god like if you want rain you will pray to a god and if you want to stop the rain you will pray for another god
Examples:
- Green Tara- Mother of all Buddhas
- Medicine Buddha- healing
- Maitreya- future Buddha
- Manjushri- wisdom
Description of Main Beliefs
- After death one returns to earthly life in a higher or lower form of life according to his good or bad deeds
- faith centers on correct understanding of human nature and ultimate reality
- Buddha is their only master
- Take refuge in the Buddha, the Ohamma and the Sangha
- the world is not created and ruled by a god
Description of Practices
- 3 trainings or practices
- Sila:Virtue, good conduct, morality. Its based on 2 fundamental principles.
- The principle of quality: that all living entities are equal
- The principle of reciprocity:this is the golden rule in Christians, to do unto others as you would have them do onto you.
- Samadhi: concentration, meditation. mental development, developing one's mind is the path 2 wisdom which in turn leads 2 person freedom. Mental development also strengths and controls our mind; this helped them maintain good conduct
- Prajna: discernment; sight, wisdom, enlightment. Its the real heart of buddhism, wisdom will emerge if your mind is pure and calm.
Description of Sacred Writings
- divided into the catorgories of canonical and non-canonial
- written by a Tibetan monk, describes indetail the stages of death from the Tibetan of point of view
- the Sutras or Suttras are believed to be either literally or metaphorically, the actual words of Buddha
-the tripotaka is the earliest collection of Buddhist teachnings and the only text recognized as canonical by Theravada Buddhists
- Mahayana is a sacred writing
- Tibetan the book of the dead is the most well known text to the west
Descriptions of festivals
- Vesak or Visakah Poja (Buddha Day) - Buddha's birthday celebrates the birth, enlightment and death of the Buddha on the one day, the first full moon in May
- Elephant Festival - the Buddha used the example of a wild elephant which when is caught, is harnessed one to train. In the same way, he said a person new to Buddhist should have a special friendship of an older Buddhist. This festival is held on the third Saturday in November.
- Festival of the Tooth - In kandy, a great temple was built to house a relic of Buddha - his tooth, the tooth can never be seen but once in a year in August on the night of the full moon there is a special prosession for it.
Symbols
- Eight spoked wheel - represents Buddha turning of the wheel of truth or law
- Bodhi tree - represents the tree under which the Buddha achieved inlightment
- Toothprints - represents the physical presence of the Enlightened one